


Step One

by Straccia_Tella



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Don't lie you all saw Emperor's New Groove during that scene, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Spoilers for Season 2, Voltron Season 2, bonding moment gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9466085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straccia_Tella/pseuds/Straccia_Tella
Summary: Takes place when Lance and Keith are stuck in the elevator. Here’s the process they went through in order to get to the pool.





	

About a minute or two passed since the power to the elevator went out and the darkness was not helping their moods. If they had the energy to be frustrated, they would have been at each other’s throats by now. Lance decided to break the silence, even though his heart wasn’t in it.

“Do you think Coran powered down the elevator?”

“Probably?” Keith replied in a listless voice. “But if it’s out, we can’t stay in here.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Lance asked. “The buttons aren’t going to work.”

“I think there should be a hatch on the ceiling.”

Apparently to open that hatch, Keith had to stand on Lance’s shoulders so he could reach. It didn’t help that they could hardly see a thing in the pitch black elevator and they stumbled around blindly trying to get in position. Out of all the ways Lance could see his day going, being used as a step-ladder wasn’t anywhere on that list.

“Hurry it up, Keith!” Lance yelled in frustration.

A small voice in his head suggested he just drop Keith, and given his tired state he was _definitely_ considering it.

 _Why does stupid Keith get to open the hatch?_ ** _I'm_** _the taller one!_ Lance thought belatedly.

“Just stand still, I got it!”

Keith continued to feel around the ceiling and pounded on the metal. Suddenly, light poured in and the weight on Lance’s shoulders was suddenly lifted. Lance sighed in relief as he rubbed his shoulders and stretched his arms out before looking up to see Keith’s hand stretch down.

“Come on,” Keith said and Lance took the hand without a second thought.

Once out, they ran into another dilemma.

“I guess we can’t power the elevator from out here,” Keith sighed as he looked around.

Lance groaned as he kneaded his foot into the metal surface, “I wish Hunk and Pidge were here. They’d have this thing running in no time…”

“We’ll figure this out on our own,” Keith reassured. “We just need to focus.”

Lance glanced around and considered the shaft. He stared up at the long walls before a light-bulb went off in his head.

“I have an idea.”

Keith looked skeptical, but felt too exhausted mentally to argue.

“All right, what is it?”

“Well, I saw this in animated movie once, and it could be our ticket out of here… Just as long as the walls don’t start to bend away. ”

"So you're basing our escape off a cartoon?" Keith really wanted to see if Lance was joking. "Seriously?"

Lance gave him a tired eye-roll before spreading his arms out, "You got a better idea? I'm all ears."

 

The idea itself was actually plausible, but executing it proved difficult between the two. With their bare backs pressing against each other, arms linked and feet pushing against the walls they began to slowly progress upwards. But after what felt like ten minutes Lance messed up his footing and they slid down about a few inches.

“Move in time with me, there’s a rhythm to it!” Keith ordered.

“I know what I’m doing!” Lance shot back. “And quit squirming against my back, I can feel your sweat and it's gross!

They continued to climb, only occasionally grunting at the exertion. However once they misplaced their footing again and slid down they quickly braced their backs together. The tension between them returned. Keith felt his irritation boil when he glanced down the shaft and then back to Lance.

“It’s right, then left. You’re off!”

“You’re off, and _shoving too hard_!” Lance retaliated.

 “ _You’re not shoving hard enough_!”

After their short spat, their mental and physical exhaustion kicked back in and the two looked away. Even their usual bickering was proving to be too tiring to continue. Here they were, climbing up an elevator shaft, arguing and fighting, all because they wanted to go to a stupid pool.

“... I should be at the pool right now.” Lance bemoaned, feeling the tired bags begin to form under his eyes.

Their continuous fleeing from the Galra was ruining his sleep patterns, and as a result that was ruining his skin. He was starting to wonder if this whole thing would be worth it; what could a pool make up if he was gonna be stuck in an elevator shaft next to the person he hated the most in the entire universe?

“Would you stop whining?” Keith asked and looked up to check their progress.

If Lance kept complaining, he would also fall into that mood.

His eyes caught sight of a panel in the wall and he called for Lance’s attention, “Look!”

Lance turned his head and saw their ray of hope. They gave each other a side- glance, followed by a smirk and spurred their bodies upwards filled with newfound determination.

When they got to the panel, Keith kicked it in and the two managed to climb inside. Then they slid down the vent, hopefully towards their final destination. While Keith looked on in boredom with his hands behind his head, Lance could only scream at the unknown as they continued to pick up speed. His heartbeat increased as he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, signaling the end to their troubles.

 

They screamed in unison as they descended towards the water, only to completely bypass it and fall to the floor. They grumbled in pain after they recovered from their fall and looked up to see exactly what went wrong. The pool itself was there, but it wasn’t on the floor.

Altean customs insisted the pools be flipped upside down and placed on the ceiling of the castle, because of course they did, _why wouldn't they?!_

“ _What the heck_?!” Lance shouted in exasperation.

“ _Stupid_ Altean pools,” Keith growled.

They stood quietly, looking up at their prize just out of reach. Keith felt cheated but realized he should have asked Allura what kind of pools Alteans had before setting off. They really needed a universal translator installed on the ship and he pushed that idea to the back of his head for Hunk and Pidge later. Lance on the other hand was already losing his mind, and Keith noticed Lance’s stress as he started pulling at his hair.

“Man-- this sucks.”

“Agreed,” Keith replied with his arms crossed. He felt that could summarize the past few days that they've been having, "This sucks".

“Do you think we can still get up there?”

“I got nothing. You?” Keith asked. 

“I fried my brain on the climbing idea…” Lance sighed and seemed ready to fall to the floor, curl up into a ball and mope. “I was _so_ looking forward to finally getting to swim again.”

Keith caught the nostalgic look in Lance’s eyes and tried to remain positive.

“Well we came this far… maybe there’s a switch somewhere.”

“Like one that flips gravity? I don’t think so.” Lance replied. “If this was made by Alteans, it's probably gonna be beyond our capabilities.”

“Sorry man, but I can’t think of any other way this could work.”

They stood quietly, looking around the room and questioning what to do next. Lance interrupted the pondering with an innocent question, his voice giving away how much he wanted to get this ordeal over with.

“Should we just call for Pidge or something?”

Before they could get into a deeper discussion the castle seemed to answer their question. As if on cue, the water from the pool fell down over the two and brought them upwards much to their shock. However, after a second, gravity decided to pull them back down and they landed on the floor once again. They both yelped in pain and coughed out the water they had accidentally inhaled, both more miserable than when they started.

“Is the castle turning on us _again_?!” Lance screamed, looking around skeptically. He would never admit it in front of Keith, but after the the crystal corrupted the castle he still had nightmares about the airlock and had to quickly walk passed it whenever he came near that area. “Is it trying to kill us? _Are we gonna die_?!”

Keith coughed out a response, “I don’t think so, that didn’t feel like the castle’s doing.”

They felt the room shake and the sound of muffled explosion rumbled throughout the room. The barrage wasn't stopping, and _that_ was never a good sign.

“Wait, are we being attacked?!” Lance asked, panic quickly starting to settle in.

“PALADINS!” Allura’s voice rang out over the speakers of the castle. “WE NEED YOU AT THE CONTROL ROOM, _NOW_!”

The immediately shot up to their feet and dashed towards the doors.

“Today just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?” Keith grunted, trying not to slip on the water dripping off his feet.

“Please don’t let it be the Galras, please don’t let it be the Galras, please don’t let it be the Galras.” Lance chanted under his breath as he tried to keep up with Keith.


End file.
